Doha: The inclusion of golf as an Olympic sport is having its ripple effect on the ground in the Middle East with a number of new events waiting for the nod to join the European Tour in the coming years.
“We are looking at lots of different countries in Middle East generally and I think in next two-three years there will be three or four more countries will have golf tournament. I think the Olympic impact is now getting to start to have its effect. It will be very interesting for next five years… Your will be surprised to see how many more countries are having golf tournaments in the next five years,” Keith Waters, European Tour Chief Operations Officer said here yesterday.
Golf was played as an Olympic Sport at the 2016 Rio Games and worlds’ top golfers instead of taking home millions of dollars took home either a gold, silver or bronze medal.
The Olympic in the Brazilian city was the first-time golf was played at the Olympics since 1904 and featured only two events, the men’s and women’s individual events featuring 64 players each.
Waters said the Oman Open, a new addition to the desert swing is a good thing to happen for the game in the region.
“With the addition of Oman, we now have five European Tour events being played in the Middle East in 2018, which again highlights the importance of the region for the Tour and for golf in general,” Waters said.
“It has a superb climate, fantastic golf courses, and we are able to travel there when it’s difficult to play golf in Europe due to the weather. It has really been a great addition to the Tour and contributed considerably to our ongoing success,” he added.
On schedule of the new tournaments in the Middle East Waters said:” It’s all about logistics and club house… the courses are finished.” Meanwhile Qatar Golf Association President Hassan Nasser Al Naimi, said shifting the tournament from January to February has helped the organisers and the players.
“If you see last year we had 120 players, this year we have 138 players, so we have been able to accommodate more players with the change in dates.”
“With days been short in January we had less time and we could not take in more players but this time of the year we have more daylight,” he added.
He informed that Al Kass TV will showing live action which will help in promoting the game among the locals.
